The announcement that had the greatest echo came on Friday 9 April, when the Tod’s group announced the entry of Chiara Ferragni on the board of directors of the company, which is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 2000 and which therefore has in the board the maximum expression of direction of corporate strategies, as well as of course of approval of the financial statements. The echo was in the media (on the web on the day of the announcement, on any other media in subsequent ones) and stock exchanges, so to speak: on Friday 9 April the Tod’s stock gained 14%, closing at 32.74 EUR. The increases continued on the next two trading days, Monday 12 April and today.
But the numbers only photograph part of the picture. Or better: they illustrate but do not fully explain the success of the announcement of the co-optation of Chiara Ferragni on the board of directors of one of the main Italian luxury groups, which, in addition to Tod’s, has the brands in its portfolio Hogan, Fay and Roger Vivier. More than a co-option, it is a piece of the strategy of the group led by Diego Della Valle, which already seems to be projected beyond the pandemic, thanks to many projects and initiatives, in which the choice of the new board member fits well.
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A new world requires new definitions
If for Tod’s it is not difficult – and it is sufficiently fitting – the definition of “luxury group”, today it is much more difficult to describe Chiara Ferragni in a few words. You’ve come a long way, girl, an American might say: this young woman (she will turn 34 on May 7) has come a long way. Starting with a blog, The blonde salad, in 2009: only eleven years have passed, but blogs have in fact become extinct. Or evolved, one might say. The selection of the species, in the world revolutionized by the internet, is ruthless and very fast.
Chiara Ferragni has gone, in the accelerated times that digital requires – and which are often impossible to face or in any case fearful for those who are not digital natives or millennials – from giving style advice such fashion blogger to sell or promote products. At that point it became one influence, that is a person who can literally influence the purchasing behavior, if not the taste, of those who “follow” them on social networks. Not just advertising, not endorsement, not appearances as a testimonial: the influencer of the digital age can count on a scientific measurement of followers, contacts, direct passages from his social pages to the sites where you can buy the products or services he talks about.
The influencer – at the level of Chiara Ferragni, 23.3 million followers on Instagram alone – has very great bargaining power towards brands. But she is no longer an influencer: on closer inspection there is still no definition. Digital entrepreneur is not wrong, of course: as Monica D’Ascenzo wrote on Sole 24 Ore on Saturday 10 April, the companies of which Chiara Ferragni is the majority shareholder, The Crew (55%) and Sisterhood (99%) closed 2019 with profits of 450 thousand and 4.995 million euros respectively.